Possible MG ZS EV Windscreen Fault

Maitland Kelly

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MG ZS EV
I've had the MG ZS Trophy Connect a few months now. Over the last couple of days I've heard a worrying noise from the windscreen (my daughter has the same problem in her MG ZS EV).

It sounds as if the windscreen is about to shatter at any moment. Windscreen is in good condition with no chips or cracks. I was wondering whether any other owners have a similar issue?

I'll be giving the Dealer a wee ring first thing in the morning.

Maitland
 
This reminds me of a problem I had was driving to work and I got a sound like a big stone hit the window screen I got to work and looked round but found nothing this happened a few times the next few days then I found out what the problem was it was my my son left a plastic water bottle in the door pocket still with some water in it so it turns out 1\2 to work the cabin gets hot enough that the air in the bottle expanse an made the sound I did think I was going mad up until this point 😅
 
I've had the MG ZS Trophy Connect a few months now. Over the last couple of days I've heard a worrying noise from the windscreen (my daughter has the same problem in her MG ZS EV).

It sounds as if the windscreen is about to shatter at any moment. Windscreen is in good condition with no chips or cracks. I was wondering whether any other owners have a similar issue?

I'll be giving the Dealer a wee ring first thing in the morning.

Maitland
Does your symptoms match these, in this thread ?.
As this is fairly common issue on the ZS EV.

 
Ah, that may well be the problem. I did search on the site before posting, but my search parameters wouldn't have picked that thread up.

I am extremely grateful. It's on a lease deal. I'll give them a wee ring tomorrow.

I'm extremely grateful for the reply.
 
Ah, that may well be the problem. I did search on the site before posting, but my search parameters wouldn't have picked that thread up.

I am extremely grateful. It's on a lease deal. I'll give them a wee ring tomorrow.

I'm extremely grateful for the reply.
You are welcome !.
It was an issue on our Gen 1 which DID take a bit of tracking down, I do have to say !.
With no surprise, the same condition migrated itself across to our Gen 2 model.
The cracking noise was more vocal and apparent when it was really cold outside, as soon as the body started to flex, you could hear a cracking like sound, coming from where the top rail of dash board crash pad meets the windscreen glass.
It did really give me the opinion that the noise was coming from the inside of the car TBH.
Driving over a tarmac broken surface, caused it to make a lot of cracks / snaps.
As the ambient / cabin temp rises, the noise becomes less vocal I found.
If you are outside and look to where the wiper arms are located, they pop through a scuttle panel in the same colour of your car.
Where this wiper scuttle panel meets the bottom of front wind screen, you will see a black hard plastic gasket, that runs right across the screen.
This hard plastic gasket is in permanent contact with the glass and is in a hard foul condition with the glass.
When the body flex's, it makes this gasket move against it's will and that is the cracking you can hear, or it was in both of our two ZS EV's anyway.
Strangely it only started after a few months of ownership.
The spray soon fixed the job though, locating the origin / cause of the problem was the hardest.
A more effective fix, maybe would be to completely remove the scuttle panel and fit some silent tape between the hard plastic gasket and the glass.
A bit more work involved in that fix though.
The choice of anti friction spray is important also, NO standard WD40 spray.
 
I've had the MG ZS Trophy Connect a few months now. Over the last couple of days I've heard a worrying noise from the windscreen (my daughter has the same problem in her MG ZS EV).

It sounds as if the windscreen is about to shatter at any moment. Windscreen is in good condition with no chips or cracks. I was wondering whether any other owners have a similar issue?

I'll be giving the Dealer a wee ring first thing in the morning.

Maitland
ZS is prone to make that noise in cold weather. Mine always had and I've had it for 3 years.

Some say that it is the speaker wiring in the A-Pillar and go to the lengths of removing the trim and putting foam in and around the wiring which I think gets a little stiff and makes a rattling crackling sound.

Others say it is the adhesive used to glue the widescreen into the metal bodywork that becomes hardened in the cold weather and you can hear it taking the strain of the different temperature expansion rates of glass and steel.

I don't know if it is either of these or something completely different but what I do know is when the weather warms up it goes away and lots of owners have commented on this forum and others about the phenomenon.
 
Some say that it is the speaker wiring in the A-Pillar and go to the lengths of removing the trim and putting foam in and around the wiring which I think gets a little stiff and makes a rattling crackling sound.
Hi Barry - We had the rattle coming from the "A" post trims on our first MD ZS EV ( Gen 1 ).
It did sound like it was the trims themselves, but when the car was stationary, if you taped on the speaker at the bottom of the "A"pillar trims, with the back of your knuckles, you could replicate the annoying rattle heard from the "A" pillar noise.
After removing the speaker grills and unclipping the wiring loom, it was found that the speaker is only held into place by plastic clips, that is moulded into the back of the speaker grill.
No need to remove the whole "A" pillar trim, just the speaker grill itself.
With the speaker and grill in your hand, if you shake the assembly from side to side, you will hear the noise you have been likely chasing !.
Be carefully easing back the clips, then speaker can be removed from its grill, it has no gasket between the metal base of the speaker and the plastic speaker grill.
This is the cause of the rattle, not the wiring loom.
I removed the speaker and cut a thin strip of felt trim tape and then lined the edge of the plastic speaker surround.
This prevents the speaker and trim from coming into direct contact with each other.
Speaker and grill is reconnected and snapped back into place and more importantly, it cures the rattle ! (y) .
 
Hi Barry - We had the rattle coming from the "A" post trims on our first MD ZS EV ( Gen 1 ).
It did sound like it was the trims themselves, but when the car was stationary, if you taped on the speaker at the bottom of the "A"pillar trims, with the back of your knuckles, you could replicate the annoying rattle heard from the "A" pillar noise.
After removing the speaker grills and unclipping the wiring loom, it was found that the speaker is only held into place by plastic clips, that is moulded into the back of the speaker grill.
No need to remove the whole "A" pillar trim, just the speaker grill itself.
With the speaker and grill in your hand, if you shake the assembly from side to side, you will hear the noise you have been likely chasing !.
Be carefully easing back the clips, then speaker can be removed from its grill, it has no gasket between the metal base of the speaker and the plastic speaker grill.
This is the cause of the rattle, not the wiring loom.
I removed the speaker and cut a thin strip of felt trim tape and then lined the edge of the plastic speaker surround.
This prevents the speaker and trim from coming into direct contact with each other.
Speaker and grill is reconnected and snapped back into place and more importantly, it cures the rattle ! (y) .
Thanks, I'll take a look at that although I'm actively searching for a longer EV so if I make a private sale this could make all the difference.
 
I've had the MG ZS Trophy Connect a few months now. Over the last couple of days I've heard a worrying noise from the windscreen (my daughter has the same problem in her MG ZS EV).

It sounds as if the windscreen is about to shatter at any moment. Windscreen is in good condition with no chips or cracks. I was wondering whether any other owners have a similar issue?

I'll be giving the Dealer a wee ring first thing in the morning.

Maitland
Hi Maitland,
I had the exact same problem but fixed it today. I lifted the bonnet and removed the black screws which hold the plastic cover which butts up to the windshield. I was then able to wedge several small bits of plastic in to form a gap between the glass and the plastic. Gave it a generous dose of silicone spray and put everything back together. Hay Presto it solved the problem completely, no more crackles and creaks !!
 
Hi Maitland,
I had the exact same problem but fixed it today. I lifted the bonnet and removed the black screws which hold the plastic cover which butts up to the windshield. I was then able to wedge several small bits of plastic in to form a gap between the glass and the plastic. Gave it a generous dose of silicone spray and put everything back together. Hay Presto it solved the problem completely, no more crackles and creaks !!
Glad you found that the fix worked for you !.
 
Hi Maitland,
I had the exact same problem but fixed it today. I lifted the bonnet and removed the black screws which hold the plastic cover which butts up to the windshield. I was then able to wedge several small bits of plastic in to form a gap between the glass and the plastic. Gave it a generous dose of silicone spray and put everything back together. Hay Presto it solved the problem completely, no more crackles and creaks !!
I've heard of other people doing something similar but I've been reluctant to attempt that in case the silicon spray might migrate across the glass and caused persistent smearing or residues might prevent the proper adhesion of the adhesive use to stick and provide a water tight seal should I require a windshield replacement.
 
+1 on this - I tracked it down along with the pillar rattles. I managed to tape passenger half but need to completely remove the wiper arms to get the other half.
 
I've heard of other people doing something similar but I've been reluctant to attempt that in case the silicon spray might migrate across the glass and caused persistent smearing or residues might prevent the proper adhesion of the adhesive use to stick and provide a water tight seal should I require a windshield replacement.
If you use silicone spray etc, get the spray can with the long nozzle that can be used to direct it behind the hard plastic gasket, that fits between the windscreen wiper scuttle and the bottom of the wind screen glass.
Put the wiper arms / blades in the service position while you carry out the work, you can use some glass cleaner / APA / Meth's to remove any small amount of over spray silicone that is on the very edge of the gasket / glass.
The wipers blades don't reach that low on the glass, so little chance of them becoming affected.
Don't worry about the gasket, it is not really intended to be a fully water tight weather seal.
It's just a plastic finishing gasket that is intended to provide a neat finish between the back edge of the metal wiper scuttle panel and the mating surface of the front wind screen glass.
If you look at the top of the scuttle panel, there is two long sets of vents that allow air flow into the car via plastic duct work.
Water is going to enter through these vent holes in the scuttle panel, but it is forward of the main bulkhead of the car and are designed not to let water into the cabin area, water is channeled away on to the ground.
There can be various levels / methods used to help solve this annoying "Cracking / Creaking" noise, which appears to be coming from the front of the very front of the dash panel, but on the inside of the car.
But the source of the problem is outside of the car really.
A couple of fix's used with good results.
Simple method :- Easing back the plastic seal with a plastic trim tool or even a old plastic bank card etc. Then in sections and working across the length of the gasket, spraying in some type of silicone spray etc down behind the gasket using a long nozzle on the can.
Or go a little further :- By removing the clips / screws that secure the wiper scuttle panel to the bulk head, which will allow the scuttle panel more movement, then access is improved to apply a suitable lub and then replace all the fastening screws.
Full on job IMO :- Firstly, use two pieces of masking tape on the glass to help return the arms to the correct location when refitting, then remove wiper arms / blades from the car ( 13mm socket if I remember correctly and you may need a simple puller to do this job ).
Then completely remove all of the scuttle panel screws / clips and remove the panel from the car.
Lay the panel upside down of a flat surface, covered in large towel or better still a sheet.
Completely clean the plastic gasket and the bottom of the windscreen with Meth's / APA.
Now using a length of self adhesive "silent tape" fix it to back of the plastic gasket, completely from one side to the other.
Refit the scuttle panel / screws / clips to the car and return the wipers to the normal rest condition and refit the wipers arms and tighten to spec.
The silent tape has a soft felt like surface, that it prevents the hard plastic gasket causing a hard foul condition against the glass.
The cracking and creaking noise is caused when the body flexes, and the hard gasket does not want to move freely across the glass, when it does so, the noise is produced.
Of course changes in ambient temp conditions affect it, the noise is more noticeable when it is cold I have found because the plastic gasket becomes rigid due to the conditions.
Incorrect choice of material for the gasket has produced this issue IMO.
A softer silicone based gasket would been a much better option.
 
If you use silicone spray etc, get the spray can with the long nozzle that can be used to direct it behind the hard plastic gasket, that fits between the windscreen wiper scuttle and the bottom of the wind screen glass.
Put the wiper arms / blades in the service position while you carry out the work, you can use some glass cleaner / APA / Meth's to remove any small amount of over spray silicone that is on the very edge of the gasket / glass.
The wipers blades don't reach that low on the glass, so little chance of them becoming affected.
Don't worry about the gasket, it is not really intended to be a fully water tight weather seal.
It's just a plastic finishing gasket that is intended to provide a neat finish between the back edge of the metal wiper scuttle panel and the mating surface of the front wind screen glass.
If you look at the top of the scuttle panel, there is two long sets of vents that allow air flow into the car via plastic duct work.
Water is going to enter through these vent holes in the scuttle panel, but it is forward of the main bulkhead of the car and are designed not to let water into the cabin area, water is channeled away on to the ground.
There can be various levels / methods used to help solve this annoying "Cracking / Creaking" noise, which appears to be coming from the front of the very front of the dash panel, but on the inside of the car.
But the source of the problem is outside of the car really.
A couple of fix's used with good results.
Simple method :- Easing back the plastic seal with a plastic trim tool or even a old plastic bank card etc. Then in sections and working across the length of the gasket, spraying in some type of silicone spray etc down behind the gasket using a long nozzle on the can.
Or go a little further :- By removing the clips / screws that secure the wiper scuttle panel to the bulk head, which will allow the scuttle panel more movement, then access is improved to apply a suitable lub and then replace all the fastening screws.
Full on job IMO :- Firstly, use two pieces of masking tape on the glass to help return the arms to the correct location when refitting, then remove wiper arms / blades from the car ( 13mm socket if I remember correctly and you may need a simple puller to do this job ).
Then completely remove all of the scuttle panel screws / clips and remove the panel from the car.
Lay the panel upside down of a flat surface, covered in large towel or better still a sheet.
Completely clean the plastic gasket and the bottom of the windscreen with Meth's / APA.
Now using a length of self adhesive "silent tape" fix it to back of the plastic gasket, completely from one side to the other.
Refit the scuttle panel / screws / clips to the car and return the wipers to the normal rest condition and refit the wipers arms and tighten to spec.
The silent tape has a soft felt like surface, that it prevents the hard plastic gasket causing a hard foul condition against the glass.
The cracking and creaking noise is caused when the body flexes, and the hard gasket does not want to move freely across the glass, when it does so, the noise is produced.
Of course changes in ambient temp conditions affect it, the noise is more noticeable when it is cold I have found because the plastic gasket becomes rigid due to the conditions.
Incorrect choice of material for the gasket has produced this issue IMO.
A softer silicone based gasket would been a much better option.
Can you suggest a source (on eBay or Amazon say) for the silent tape stuff please?
 
Can you suggest a source (on eBay or Amazon say) for the silent tape stuff please?
No problem, this is what I used.
It can be trimmed down in its width if you so desire with a pair of sharp scissors.

 
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No problem, this is what I used.
It can be trimmed down in its width if you so desire with a pair of sharp scissors.

Could I ask If you have link to the silicon spray you use? I have an annoying rattle that appears to come from centre of the dashboard near windscreen On my TCLR.
TIA.
 
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Could I ask If you have link to the silicon spray you use? I have an annoying rattle that appears to come from centre of the dashboard near windscreen On my TCLR.
TIA.
No problem !.
Any type of silicone spray with be okay, but I used one of the tried and tested WD40 range of products.
I also use there white lithium grease spray for lubricating the door locks / hinges / door check straps etc etc.

 
Hi Maitland,
I had the exact same problem but fixed it today. I lifted the bonnet and removed the black screws which hold the plastic cover which butts up to the windshield. I was then able to wedge several small bits of plastic in to form a gap between the glass and the plastic. Gave it a generous dose of silicone spray and put everything back together. Hay Presto it solved the problem completely, no more crackles and creaks !!
Hi Maitland, in the attached, can you highlight which black screws to remove, I have the same problem and would like to follow the same approach as you, many thanks.
 

Attachments

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    bunnet.jpg
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If you use an old plastic locality / bank card, you can slip it behind the gasket.
Pry the plastic card back and then insert the nozzle of your spray can.
Apply the spray and move the plastic card across the windscreen bit by bit, spraying as you go.
If you have a set of the plastic trim removal tools, you can use one of these to pry back the gasket slightly.
Removing the fasteners will give you more room of course.
From memory there is only about five screws to remove.
I think I removed the soft long rubber bonnet seal, that runs across the scuttle panel, you can see in the photo.
If you just pull up the seal, starting from one side, it will easily come away and it is easy to refit later.
With all of the screws removed you will have plenty of room, but you will not be able to remove the scuttle panel completely from the car, unless you remove the windscreen wiper arms as well.
Silicone spray is great if you do not want to remove the screws etc.
You can use some silicone grease on the gasket if you do decide to remove the screws.
In both cases avoid getting silicone spray or grease onto to the wiper blades, as it will smear across the glass and is hard work to remove when this happens.
If you do get a small amount of silicone on the very bottom of the glass, then use some kitchen towel and something like methylated sprits / IPA to remove it when the scuttle panel is back in place.
Oh …… important !.
Do not be tempted to try lifting the wiper arms away from the glass, when the bonnet is closed, or you will scrape the paint off the back edge of your bonnet !.
You can put the wiper arms into service mode before you start the job.
This will park the arms in the 12 o’clock 🕛 position.
 
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